Customer Reviews

The Mysterious Island (Modern Library Classics)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Mysterious Island is the third book in a trilogy by Verne (the 1st being In Search of the Castaways and the 2nd the famous 20000 Leagues Under the Sea). I think it's by far the best of the three - it's one of my favourites of Verne and makes the other 2 look completely superficial. It was one of my favourites as a child but now I really want to read it as an adult as I think it will be even better.

A bunch of people fighting on the side of the abolisionists in the US Civil War escape a siege on a hot air balloon. They're blown off course and are shipwrecked on a deserted island on the Pacific. However, Verne takes an optimistic approach to the story (of course it helps that the 5 or so people are all quite good at one thing or another). Over the period of their stay, they "conquer" the island as they build what is literally a civilisation with their bare hands. What follows is a story of redemption, struggle and the amazing parts of the human spirit (ones most people never get to see outside of extreme circumstances), as well as the heroes' hunt for the secret of the island.

In many other books, Verne describes scenery or nature for pages and pages which can get tiresome. But never here, for here he is singing a sublime ode to inventiveness as our heroes' knowledge of everything from chemistry to astronomy to the humanities is turned to use. This is an adventure book but it's much more deep than most adventure books - you can really tell that Verne was writing in an era of the belief in progress (the modern reader will probably have a very different attitude to nature than the author) and this book is the immortal tale of the best human nature has to offer, all against a backdrop of action.

This new translation lifts the book to a higher level - there is very little about Verne's writing that can be described as dated or boring. Even that redoutable master of brilliant and modern-reading prose, Wilkie Collins, cannot keep up with Verne at his best. How so much seemingly tedious description is lifted to this level of fluidity - flat out amazing.
Verne's genius for what we today call Science Fiction sometimes obscures his even greater gift, for pure narrative. And with the Mysterious Island in this new translation his talent is on full display. Verne creates with this island an entire new world, a sort of Eden, and within this landscape plays out an entirely breathtaking story. Lingering in the backdrop, Verne's embittered alter ego Nemo balances the one-sided idealism of the castaways. On a scale with the Count of Monte Cristo, and the literary culmination of the enlightenment/scientific shipwrecked theme,(versus the 'humans are animals Lord of the Flies alternative), the Mysterious Island builds steadily to a tremendous finish.
When we read 19th century fiction much of the time phrases and scenes are flat, stale; even the best writers, Dickens, or Trollope, Balzac or Hawthorne, have streches of writing that just doesn't read as anything but dated. But Verne's best books, and this certainly is one of them, are as remarkable for their uncluttered fine prose writing as they are for their famous plots and explorations.
If Verne was no great creator of character, he makes up for it by some of the most eminently readable works ever penned.
A wonderful book for reading during a cold long winter weekend.

Five intrepid souls - typical Victorian "men's men" all - imprisoned in Richmond by the North's siege of the city during the American Civil War, band together in a daring escape attempt - the theft of a hot air balloon grounded by a horrific summer storm. The five men - Cyrus Harding, an abolitionist and distinguished captain in Grant's army with Neb, his negro manservant; Gideon Spilett, dauntless war correspondent for the New York Herald; Pencroft, a dashing businessman from the North and former sailor trapped in Richmond by the siege; and his young friend, Herbert Brown - plus Harding's loving dog, Top, are lofted high into the sky by the powerful storm, blown thousand of miles from Richmond and brutally dashed onto the shores of an uncharted island somewhere deep in the southern hemisphere.

The tale unfolds as a straightforward dramatic adventure outlining the trials and tribulations of our five heroes. We are witness to their amazing transformation from prisoners, to castaways, to explorers, to pioneers and, finally, through a combination of intrepid daring, perseverance, cunning, ingenuity, derring-do, and eclectic scientific know-how, to comfortable, established colonists and citizens of their tropical paradise. Quite aptly, they've christened it "Lincoln Island". That Verne allowed himself the luxury of creating characters that were the very model of goodwill and cooperation can be overlooked. That Cyrus Harding, as an engineer, and Herbert Brown, as a young naturalist, had collective instant recall of virtually the world's accumulated scientific knowledge and a great deal of arcana besides was pushing the limits even for a story like this. But, what the heck - The Mysterious Island was intended as a "feel good" adventure, after all. My suggestion to help the reader get past this credibility factor problem is to allow Verne's tale to stand-in as a representative microcosm of the perils facing any group of courageous immigrants colonizing a strange land starting with nothing more than the clothes on their back and their wits. I'm sure you'll set the book down feeling no less than awestruck at the achievements that a successful flourishing colony represents.

As a historical aside, it was with no small amount of horror and disgust that I realized that Spilett's and Pencroft's complete and utter disdain and lack of consideration for the ecology of their island was probably entirely representative of Europe's attitude to these issues in the late 19th century. For example:

" ... Gideon Spilett and Herbert one day saw an animal which resembled a jaguar. Happily the creature did not attack them, or they might not have escaped without a severe wound. As soon as he could get a regular weapon, that is to say, one of the guns which Pencroft begged for, Gideon Spilett resolved to make desperate war against the ferocious beasts, and exterminate them from the island." And "If the island is inhabited by wild beasts, we must think how to fight with and determine how to exterminate them. A time may come when this will be our first duty."

Ironically, despite their crystal clear certainty about their ability to exterminate a species under a planned program of attack, they were completely blind about the potential inability of another species to last forever as a food resource. To wit:

" ... commonly known by the name of American Rabbits. This product of the chase was brought back to Granite House and figured at the evening repast. The tenants of the warren were not at all to be despised, for they were delicious. It was a valuable resource of the colony and it appeared to be inexhaustible."

That said, the book was clearly a child of its times and, as such, the attitudes which we have hopefully left behind us can now be overlooked and accepted as historical artifacts. As an adventure story, it succeeds well and Ray Harryhausen chose well to build an exciting adventure film around it. The Mysterious Island unquestionably deserves a place on your reading list.

I had never heard of this book before I stumbled onto it on the library bookshelf. As slow as it was, yet it was immensely enjoyable. Lots of details, lots of information. The premise: A group of men get in a balloon to escape from prison, circa 1860 (civil war unrest, etc). bad weather causes their balloon to blow way off course, and they end up about 5,000 miles away from the U.S. on an uninhabited island, so they have to start from scratch. From there, interesting developments occur as they work to establish some semblance of civilized life from the ground up.

If ever there was a title that lived up to its name, it's this book's title. Jules Verne, who I am now convinced is a consummate storyteller, weaves a tale that is so fascinating and readable that I constantly found myself musing over its contents even when I wasn't reading. My only other acquaintance with Jules Verne's writings was with "Around the World in Eighty Days," which surprised me by how entertaining it was. I went into "The Mysterious Island" a little more prepared, but Mr. Verne still managed to throw me off guard. This is a great read for two reasons. First, it is an incredibly fascinating account of survival. Not just in the same vein as "Robinson Crusoe," and "The Swiss Family Robinson" (which Verne deftly acknowledges in the story itself), though in many ways it is very similar to those accounts, but it takes a whole new approach, which raises the castaway situation from, not just survival, but civilization making. I suppose, if you are not much interested in how tools are made, how things are manufactured, the rudiments of civilization itself, the book might seem to drag for you and might even seem to be taken from the pages of a textbook. I, for one, even though I am the farthest thing from a scientist, delighted in this instructional storytelling. Everything seemed possible, the ingenuity of man's mind was glorified, obstacles of nature were surmounted with the cleverest tricks. If ever I were to be a castaway, this book would be a must have. Even though the narrative did take an instructional tone at times, and I did slow down my reading, I never did dislike it. I always came back to the book with enthusiasm. And, I must add, Verne did an incredible job of making some of the most, seemingly mundane things spellbinding. One scene, where the castaways are attempting to light a fire with the one match that they have was absolutely gripping, my palms were nearly sweating. I will never light a match frivolously again (I know that's a lie, but it sure felt that way when I was reading). That was one reason that I loved the book. If that were the only aspect of the story, I would have walked away loving it. But Verne doesn't stop there. He also approaches a completely different angle of storytelling, and this is where the "mystery" in the title comes into play. Boy, is he subtle. Man, does Verne play his cards just right when he introduces the mystery of the island. Some strange things occur, but they aren't completely out of the ordinary; they are possibly explained; they are quickly forgotten. But then something else happens, he drops some other subtle hints here and there. He lays it on so smoothly, that it isn't until half way through the novel that you realize that there is something else entirely going on here. Some strange, inexplicable presence. Something that, surprisingly, you realize is integral to the plot (even though you knew from the title that would be the case, Verne lures you into forgetting it). Once the mystery finally starts to take center stage, Verne coyly drops other hints and clues, but never unveils the whole thing, leaving you guessing. At a couple of points, he nearly drove me over the edge. I had to know, and I didn't like being played with. But quickly enough, Verne makes amends and you move on until you catch the next hint. My guesses for the strange events were all over the spectrum, ranging from deity, to fables, to time traveling, among other wild speculations. But with each successive hint, I had to reassess. As the mystery becomes more bold and the events more blatant, there were times where I was almost bursting at the seams to know what was behind it all. If you are reading this and thinking that this is a rather large setup, leading to what must surely be a huge let down, then you are thinking exactly what I thought. I kept on thinking that there was nothing Verne could do to legitimize these events in a consistent way that fits with everything. So this begs the question, does Verne pull it off? Does the mystery fit the brilliant set up? My answer: Yes and no. When the mystery was finally revealed (and yes, it is revealed ... I wondered for a while whether it would even be resolved at all), it made sense, and it fit, and I believed it within Verne's realm of storytelling. But I did feel like it was a little bit of a cheat. Not a big one, mind you, but a little bit of a cut corner. I don't want to give anything away, because I didn't get such an advantage, nor would I have wanted one, but the mystery relies on something that I don't know is completely fair. Yet, in the end, I figured that Verne still did a tremendous job. As I looked back on the setup, and the experience, I realized that I really enjoyed every step of the way ... even if not knowing nearly drove me crazy at some points. Thinking about this, and looking at my very long review which such masterful storytelling has elicited, I have suddenly come to the conclusion that "The Mysterious Island" deserves my highest recommendation for that reason alone. The journey was worth the destination, and even if the journey did manage to slightly outshine the destination, it was a pretty satisfying place to end anyway.

This is my favorite book by Jules Verne and I've always been disappointed that it is so underappreciated.

After escaping a confederate prison camp in a hot air balloon, five men are stranded on a remote island. The characters prove to be innovative and determined souls and set about creating a life for themselves using their knowledge of chemistry and other sciences.

The title of the book stems from a series of mysterious incidents that seem to be the work of a benevolent force helping the survivors.

Their ingenuity makes for fascinating reading and once again validates Jules Verne as one of the most intuitive authors of all time.

This is a fantastic book with enough adventure to keep you reading all night long! Jules has out done himself with this marvelous novel. It has great description and explanations for every flip of the page. I would recomend this book to anyone who is looking for a book filled with rich adventure and loving characters. Overall, this book deserves the 5 stars I gave it(maybe even 6!) and anyone who doesn't agree with me is out of their minds! AWESOME BOOK

Jules Verne really was well before his time and can rightly take his place as the grandfather of Science Fiction, having said that a lot of this "fiction" has come pretty close to the mark. Five comrades are trust together to survive from the elements on a remote island in the pacific, it really is remote as the island is "...more than eighteen hundred from New Zealand" What I love about this work and at the same time makes it a little sticky is the scientific detail that Verne goes into to explain how our heroes develop their island into a small slice of civilization. Verne does has some rather dated opinions regarding Neb, the servant of Cyrus Harding the novels clear cut Superman and does slightly stretch the truth with Jup's development, but if you can overlook these small misgivings and put them into historical light then its a great way to improve the mind and rekindle the love of reading. Oh I hear you ask who is Jup???? Get yourself a copy and find out you won't regret it!

As far as the actual story is concerned, I found it entirely enjoyable to read and can only second the positive comments left by others.

But the introduction of this book is seriously flawed, as it blurts out so much of the story that a lot of the suspense is destroyed before the reader even starts on the first chapter. I strongly recommend to skip the introduction entirely, and only consider reading it after the story, if at all.

This is my favorite of Verne's novels. It details the adventures of a group of friends who try to escape the impending war, by taking flight in a hot-air balloon. The plan fails, they are stranded, and there is evidence of a godlike force at work. The amazing thing about this novel is, that even though you pretty much know what's going to happen, it's still worth reading. It's really an excellent story, whether you like Jules Verne or not.